crosby



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

B. L. CROSBY.

CLOTH MEASURING AND CUTTING MACHINE. No. 298,670.

Patented May 13, 1884.

WITNESSES fM I m,

A fforneys,

dim/L dam N. PETERS. Phocu-Llmo hu. wnhiu tm. B4 c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. L. GROSBY. CLOTH MEASURING AND CUTTING MACHINE.

No. 298,670. Patented May 13, 1884.

will/ i 2 M I A ftorneys n. PEYERS. Pbuw-Llihognphlr. Wlihingibn. o. c.

lliinn Frames niieivr @FMCE.

EUNIOE LODESKI CROSBY, OF PLYMOUTH, \VISOONSIN.

CLOTH MEASURING AND CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 298,670, dated May 13, 1884. Application filed March 8, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EUNIOE LODESKI ORos- BY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Plymouth, in the county of Sheboygan and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cloth Measuring,

and Outtin g Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which. form a part of this specification.

The obj cct of my invention is to provide a machine adapted to measure, gage, and cut cheese-bandages from a bolt of cloth, so that the same are produced with a saving of time and labor, and are all of the same size, without any undue waste of cloth; and the invention consists of a machine which winds the cloth onto a reel and gages and cuts the bandages of a uniform and proper size.

It consists, essentially, of an adjustable reel, onto which the cloth is wound, provided with two rows of pins, which perforate the bandages and indicate the seam lines, between which rows the cloth is cut transversely, said reel also being constructed so that it contracts gradually as the cloth is wound up on it, in order that the outer circumference of the cloth wound on the reel shall remain constant.

It also consists of certain details of construction, all of which will be fully described, and then set forth in the claims.

Figure l is a perspective View of a machine which embodies my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section through the middle of the same. Fig. 8 is an enlarged View, partly in section, illustrating the construction of the marking-bar E. Fig. 4c is a reel which exhibits a modification of the invention. Fig. 5 illustrates a marking-bar, with the pins arranged in three diverging groups and for each strip of the cheese-cloth; and Figs. 6 and 7 are longitudinal and transverse sections, respeetively, of a marking-bar provided with a knife which cuts the strips transversely.

The letter A. designates a frame which supports the reel, and also the two bars 0 c, be-

clination outward, as shown.

tween which the cloth passes. The reel is composed of a shaft, 13, journaled in the stand ards a, end disks, 1) b, slats D, and the bar E. The disks b b are each provided with radial projecting spokes f f, which pass through holes in the ends of the slats D. The marking-bar E is supported on similar spokes, ff, but it is fastened to them, while the slats D, or their equivalents, are free to move in a radial direction. Near each end of the reel, just within the heads, there is a collar, 9 g, sliding on the shaft B. Radiating from each collar, like the ribs of an umbrella-frame, and hinged to them, are ribs (Z d, which are attached at their outer ends to the slats D, near the ends of the latter, and just within the spokes on which they slide. These ribs (2 d have an in- Each of the collars g g has a rib or rod, 0 and e, which are attached at their outer ends to the bar E, which comes immediately underneath the bar E, and may be said to form an adjustable part of the same; but the ribs 0 c incline inward at an opposite angle from the ribs (2 d. The collars g g are each made with an extension on one side, having nuts g 9", through which the feed-screw I passes. The latter is journaled in the heads of the reel, and is made with a right and left handed screw 011 its opposite ends, so that when turned in one direction it will draw the collars g 9 toward each other, and when rotated in the opposite direction they move apart. One end of the screw extends through the head of the reel and carries a spur-pinion, z, and also has a square head, i, Fig. l, to receive a crank for resetting the reel. A pin, a on the frame is placed in the path of the spur-pinion, so that it strikes one .of the pinion-teeth and partially turns the feed-screw once during .each revolution of the reel. v

Extending the entire length of the markingbar E there is a groove, c, which serves as a guide for the blade of a knife used in cutting the cloth transversely. The bar E carries two rows of pins, 0*, which pass through holes in the bar E, and protrude above the surface of I the same. These rows of pins are placed farther apart at one end than at the other, and they serve the double purpose of holding IOO the cloth and keeping it stretched straight be tween them in the under layers, and also of marking it by means of the perforations with two diverging lines of holes, which, when the cloth is out along the line of the groove 6", indicate the lines on which to lap the ends of the bandage when inserting it into the cheesehoop, so that the bandage will have the slightly-tapering form required. They thus gage the slight difference in the seam which is desired.

It will be seen that when the reel is rotated by means of the handle in the proper direction the feed-screw gradually, step by step, moves the collars in toward the center, and this movement of the collars draws the slats D in toward the axis of the reel, thus contracting it, while the bar E, carrying the marking pins, is pushed outward, causing the pins to extend farther and farther beyond the bar E. Behind the bar 0 there is a bar, 0 carrying the knives H, which are adjustable on the bar. These knives cut or slit the cloth into strips as it passes from between the bars a 0 up onto the reel, the strips being afterward out transversely to form the cheese-bandages. In the present case three knives are shown,which cut the cloth into four strips; but the number of knives may be varied, depending upon the numberof strips the cloth is to be slit into, and the knives can be adjusted on their supporting-bar according to the desired width of the bandages.

A different arrangement of the marking-pins is shown in'Fig. 5,'the pins being arranged in three sets of two diverging rows-one set for each strip of cloth. It will be understood that the arrangement of the marking-pins can be modified in other ways, and, if desired, they may be in straight parallel rows.

The operation of the machine isas follows: At the start the reel is set so that its circumference from one row of pins around to the other row is just equal to the desired length of bandage. This is easily done by turning the reel until the feed-screw comes uppermost,

and, applying a crank to the end of the feedscrew, turning it in the proper direction to expand or contract it as required. The end of the bolt of cloth (shown dotted in Fig. 2) is passed up through the slit between the bars 0 c, and attached to the pins 6 The slitting-knives H are of course properly spaced, so as to cut it into strips of the proper width. The reel is then rotated, and as much wound onto it as desired to be cut into bandages. With each rotation of the reel each slat is drawn in by means of the feed-screw and contracting mechanism an almost imperceptible a'mount,,equal to the thickness of a layer of cloth, so that the outside circumference will remain constant and each layer of cloth will be of the same length. At the same time the pins 6 are pushed outward step by step, so that they continue to protrude from the outer surface of the cloth to the same extent'as at first. As the space between the rows remains of the same width, the gradual contraction of the reel does not cause the cloth between the rows of pins in the under layers to wrinkle, but it remains stretched outstraight in all the layers. The capacity of the reel, therefore, I

depends only upon the extent to which the slats can be drawn in and the marking-pins can be pushed out. When the reel is full, or as much cloth has been wound onto it as desired, a sharp blunt-pointed knife is inserted into the groove 6 at one end and drawn across,

cutting all the layers of cloth by one operation. The bandages are then taken off, all of the. same length, and each having its ends marked and gaged by the lines of holes, ready to be inserted into a cheese-hoop. Although.

in the present case the perforated barE is stathe length of a bandage, and it has two marking and cutting bars, E each having a pinbar that is-fed outward as before. In this case, however, the marking and holding pins are in parallel rows, each set slightly oblique to the axis of the reel, and the two sets at an opposite inclination from each other, so that the bandages will be a little longer on one side than on the other. This gives the proper shape to the bandages, and it also effects a saving of material, for the long and short sides of the bandages alternate with each other, and there is no waste due to the slanting ends. This form is preferably made forasingle width of bandage, as with several sets of bandages cut at one time from different strips those of the different strips will be of. different lengths.

Instead of cutting the cloth transversely by hand, the machine may be constructed so as to do this work also, in themanner illustrated by Figs. 6 and 7. The bar E has a central 10ngitudinal slot in place of the groove, and a knife-blade, M, carried by the bar E, is projected up through the slot and cuts the cloth. 1

The edge of the blade should be inclined, as shown, so as to give a draw out, as in most paper-cutting inclines. The edge of the knife 'is preferably set a short distance below the points of the marking-pins, so that it will not commence to cut the under layers of cloth until several thicknesses have been wound onto for making cheese-bandages; but it may be.

used for measuring and cutting cloth for other and similar purposes, which are within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A contracting reel which contracts as the material is wound upon it, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A slat reel provided with mechanism which draws the slats in as the reel is revolved, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a reel, of the slats D, collars g g, sliding on the shaft of the reel, the ribs (1 d, and feed-screw I, operating substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

a. In a cloth measuring and cutting machine, the slats D, in combination with a markingbar, E, the former being adapted to draw inward, and the latter having pins which are pushed outward from the bar as the material is wound upon the reel.

5. In a cloth measuring and cutting machine, the marking-bar E, having two rows of pins and an intermediate knife-groove, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In combination with the reel of a cloth measuring and cutting machine, the markingbar E, having several sets of diverging rows of pins, one set for each strip of cloth, and an intermediate knife groove, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a cloth measuring and cutting machine, the marking-bar formed of an adjustable strip and a fixed strip, one of the bars carryingpins which project through holes in the other bar, together with mechanism, substantially as shown, which gradually and continually advanoes the pins as the cloth is wound upon the reel, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In combination with the reel of a cloth measuring and cutting machine, the marking bar having two diverging rows of pins and an intermediate knife groove, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In a cloth measuring and cutting machine, a reel having a cloth-cutting knife, M, in combination with mechanism, substantially as shown, which gradually and continually proj ects the knife outward as the reel is rotated, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

10. In a cloth measuring and cutting machine, the marking and cutting bar formed of an adjustable strip and a fixed strip, one of the bars carrying pins and aknife-blade, which can be gradually and continually projected through openings in the other bar as the cloth is wound upon the reel, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

11. The combination, in a reel, of the slats D, the marking-bar provided with rows of pins and formed of a fixed and movable section, the collars g g, sliding on the-shaft of the reel, the ribs connecting the collars with the slats and the movable member of the marking-bar, and the feed-screw I, all operating substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

12. In a cloth measuring and cutting. machine, the feedscrew I, which actuates reel,and contracting and expanding mechanism having a spur-pinion, i, in combination with a stud, a substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EUN ICE LODESKI CROSBY.

Witnesses FRANCES TAYLOR, MARY TAYLOR. 

